£15m star who rejected Leeds United transfer could be back at Elland Road next season - PL pair interested

Former Leeds United transfer target Nadiem Amiri has been linked with a summer move to the Premier League - two years after rejecting the chance to play at Elland Road.

Leeds came painstakingly close to signing Amiri from Bayer Leverkusen back in the summer of 2023, having agreed a fee of just £5million for the attacking midfielder who had fallen out of favour under Xabi Alonso. Elland Road chiefs even welcomed their transfer target to West Yorkshire for face-to-face contract talks but a deal fell through at the last minute.

Pictures of Amiri walking through the city centre surfaced after Leeds, who organised their target’s flight across from Germany, reportedly refused to cover the return journey. but he could soon be back on a plane to the UK amid reports of interest from two Premier League stalwarts.

Journalist Darren Witcoop reports via TEAMtalk that Fulham and Crystal Palace have ‘joined the chase’ for Amiri, who is not thought to be short of suitors following an impressive campaign at FC Mainz. The 27-year-old registered seven goals and five assists in 30 games for the Bundesliga outfit last season and is expected to leave this summer.

Clubs in Germany and elsewhere across Europe are said to be keen on Amiri but it is Fulham who are said to be ‘pushing’ for a deal, while FA Cup winners Palace are also thought to be keen. And of particular interest to Leeds will be Mainz’s £15million price-tag, which is more than three times the midfield technician’s value when Daniel Farke wanted him two years ago.

That owes to an excellent domestic campaign in the Bundesliga and a surprise return to the German national team back in March, having not featured at international level since 2020. Amiri played both UEFA Nations League quarter-final games against Italy and is in the squad again this summer, albeit he missed Tuesday’s semi-final meeting with Portugal due to a minor injury.

Elland Road return on the cards for Nadiem Amiri after Leeds United snub

Should Fulham or Palace sign Amiri this summer, then he will likely walk out on to the pitch at Elland Road more than two years after turning down the chance to play there. Why the attacking midfielder flew all the way to West Yorkshire just to reject contract offers will never be known but reflecting on the saga last year, the reported Leeds target hit back at suggestions he was demanding huge wages.

“Leeds really wanted me,” Amiri told German outlet Watson. “They made me a brutal offer and asked me to just take a look at everything on site. But I couldn’t really imagine it, especially for family reasons. When I was there, I was supposed to sign straight away that day, even though it wasn’t agreed upon.

“A lot of what you read in the media afterwards wasn’t true. There was not back and forth with the acceptances and rejections, I was clear about that from the start. It was disappointing that afterwards everyone thought I was the bogeyman – it shows that there is a lot going on behind the scenes that the public doesn’t even notice, and in the business, people sometimes forget that we are people and not commodities.”

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